Between Hawaii and LA... Picture Parade

Here are the pics that should have accompanied my last blog entry. Details about our last few days in Hawaii and our travel woes between Hawaii and Utah are in THIS blog entry. These are just the pics and quick captions are are what we call the beginning of an extreme catch up!

I forgot to mention in my last post what a great friend I have in Wendy! She and her husband
Carl pulled together an awesome going away party for our family at the beach near our
home. It was so fun to hang out together with people we love the weekend before we left!

Good food. Good friends. Good fun!

They know how to potluck in Hawaii!

The rebel part of the group who closed out the beach park
and had to be kicked out by beach patrol at sunset :) 

Last day of church with our Honouliuli ward congregation. Pretty sure having the congregation sing Aloha 'Oe and present us with dozens of leis was one of the most emotional things I've ever experienced.

Gorgeous colors and flowers.

My special little Tommy. I love this boy. He calls me "Auntie Mom".

One last beach trip the day before we left Hawaii. We went with the Cummings.

After the beach we had some good ol' Dixie Grill BBQ together.

My heroes and besties. They totally saved the night when they came and helped
do the final scrubbing in order for us to be able to turn in our rental house keys
without leaving a mess behind. And they did it late, late at night with me because
I was so stubborn and wouldn't accept their offers of help before then. Still came to
my rescue. Love these ladies!

Stayed with our best friends the several nights before leaving Hawaii. On our last night there I woke
up with Tommy curled up in bed next to me hehehe. Sweet little thing.

Our Hawaiian Ohana the morning we left Hawaii. When Ben and I were recently talking about the Cummings and I referred to them as "like family" Ben corrected me and said "They're not LIKE family Mom. They ARE family." It's true. We're so grateful for them!

This picture makes me cry. 

The incomparable Durretts. Love these amazing and supportive folks! They took us to the airport
the morning we left. Last of our church ohana to bid us Aloha. Mary is convinced that we'll return
to live in Hawaii someday. I (not-so-)secretly hope she's right.

 

Leaving... on a jet plane. *sniff sniff* (Brady sat next to Willy but didn't make it into the pic. Whoops)

Ben and Toby were seatmates on the long flight. He's not unhappy about sitting
next to Toby, by the way. He was just as emotional about leaving Hawaii
as Willy and I were.

Molly and I kept each other company on our flight.

My last glimpse of the turquoise water just off Oahu. I'm pretty sure the people around me at this point
must have been terribly, terribly concerned for the hysterically sobbing lady in 37H. 

Seeing Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Moloka'i from the air as we passed over finally
calmed me down. When we'd left that island a couple weeks earlier I worried that I'd never see it
again. Seeing it, even just from the air, gave me some hope that I'd see it and O'ahu again someday
and helped me get a grip and relax for the remainder of the flight.

   

First stop in Los Angeles... In-N-Out of course,
for some burgers, shakes and Animal Style Fries!

The evening air in Los Angeles was so "cold" that Molly and Toby
kept tucking their arms inside their shirts. I had perma goosebumps.

Quick stop at the Los Angeles temple, even in the dark.

Hanging out on Venice Beach the day we had to kill time while waiting for our van to be available for pick up at the docks in Long Beach.

Fascinated by the man on homemade roller blades rocking out with his electric guitar...

There are just no words for some of what we saw
while walking along the beach...

Crazy cool sand sculpture

Climb boys climb!

Hanging out at Muscle Beach.

Molly acted as if she'd never played in sand before. It was kind of hilarious
to see how enthusiastically she played in the sand!

Not thrilled with having to hang out at the mall while the car
battery was replaced at the auto dealership after we picked up
the van from the shipping company at the docks only to find
the battery completely dead and unable to hold juice. What
a way to screw up our travel plans!!

 

Kids weren't quite as bothered by the car trouble delay...

 And that concludes the picture parade from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Next up? Family fun in Utah!! (Whenever I manage to get around to it!)